Lost in the Rain
by Extreme Light 9
Summary: AU. During a rainy evening, Stan sees a girl being chased by a monster and tries to save her only to be pulled into an ordeal more weird and dangerous than he could have imagined.
1. Overcast

**Chapter 1 – Overcast**

**A/N: Hey everyone, it's been almost three years since I wrote GF fic, so I'm back with an AU based on a game I played a while ago called Rain. You don't have to play the game yourself in order to read this so don't worry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls or Rain. **

**Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Stan coughed as he made his way through the isles in the store, taking a can from one of the shelves and tossing it carelessly into his trolley before moving on to the next.

After finding out they ran out of food in the shack, he decided to make a trip to the convenience store.

This wouldn't have been a problem for him if he wasn't sick today.

His head ached and his face was warm to the touch. Sighing, he pushed his way toward the cashier to pay for everything, wanting to get back home as fast as possible. It wasn't long until he started coughing again, catching the attention of the cashier.

"Are you okay, sir?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," he said gruffly as he handed her the money before making his way to the exit with his grocery bags.

When he stepped outside the store and began walking back to his car, he blinked when he felt the first droplets of rain fall. He looked up to see dark clouds blocking the night sky.

It should be no surprise really since it had been raining a lot for the last few days.

Without a second thought, the old man hurried to his car as the rain began to fall harder. He sighed in relief as he settled in the driver's seat and placed his hands on the steering wheel. Now he wanted nothing else than to sit down in his armchair and never get up. He was about to start up the engine when he saw something in the rain.

He frowned and squinted to get a better look at it. It looked like a silhouette of a person standing on the sidewalk, a little girl. Her body was hard to make out, transparent, and she was shielding herself from the rain.

Stan blinked and took off his glasses to rub his eyes in disbelief. That can't be real. He must be a lot more tired than he previously thought. Yeah, that's it. He was hallucinating from sickness.

The girl was whipping her wet face with her sleeve when she finally noticed the old man watching her from inside in the car. She met his confused gaze and started waving at him frantically.

_(At the time, he didn't know what she had been trying to tell him.)_

Just then, another shape came into his view near the girl and….well, Stan had no idea what he was looking at.

The thing was incredibly tall, much taller than Stan was. Its body was transparent like the girl, but also skeletal in form. While its left hand looked normal enough, the left one was shaped like a thick curved club that was large enough to scrape the ground.

Despite the creature clearly not having a face, Stan could almost feel its glare cutting right through him. Its attention then turned to the girl who backed away from it and ran away. Stan watched in stunned silence as the creature began chasing her, dragging its heavy club on the ground with it.

Without thinking, Stan quickly stepped out of the car to see the direction they went. He didn't know what came over him, but he found himself hurrying after the two.

He ran as fast he could down the sidewalk, trying to not lose sight of them. Luckily, the sound of the monster's footsteps was loud enough for him to locate them.

He finally saw them disappear into an alley and was quick to follow them. He suddenly stopped when he felt a shudder travel through his body and looked back, not knowing what caused that.

Deciding not to dwell on it, he wasted no time and headed deeper into the alley.

**XXXXXXX**

The downpour continued without showing any sign of stopping. Water leaked from roofs and pipes in down into the sewers.

Stan groaned as he continued his trek between the buildings. _Why didn't I bring my umbrella along?_ He thought, feeling his suit getting heavier. He suddenly saw a roof up ahead and made his way to hide under it.

"What am I even doing?!" He muttered to himself angrily. He was chasing what was likely to be a hallucination in the middle of a rain storm!

Just when he was about to leave, he looked ahead and tensed up when he saw the monster standing where the path split into two.

The unknown creature was looking around and seemed to be searching for the girl. It suddenly turned around and Stan's breathing hitched as its gaze fell on him. He remained frozen in his spot, not knowing what to do. To his surprise, the creature simply stared for a moment and returned to look for the kid.

Blinking in surprise, Stan wondered why the thing didn't react to him at all. He soon got his answer when he looked down at himself and his eyes widened in horror.

His body was gone!

He couldn't see anything. No arms. No legs. Nothing! It took all of his willpower to prevent himself from screaming, not wanting to alert the monster of his presence.

Somehow, even though he couldn't see his body, he could still feel his wet suit clinging onto his skin and his fez on his head. He flexed his fingers experimentally and tried touching his face. It felt weird, feeling the touch of a hand on his skin yet not seeing it.

Stan finally realized it. He was….invisible, but how did this happen?

Stan found himself staring at the form of the monster, noticing the raindrops falling over its drenched transparent body and dripping on the ground.

Curious, the old man reached his hand out and watched in bewilderment as it appeared in the rain. He could see right through it though. _How….?_

Just then, Stan saw something at the other pathway. It was the girl, running through the puddles. While the unknown's back was turned to him, Stan sneaked past it as quietly as he could. Once he was far enough, he began running down the pathway.

What's going on? Why was he like this and what was that thing chasing them?

Stan stopped running to catch his breath and glanced up ahead.

He had to find answers. He had to find that girl.

**XXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I would like to explain something before the story proceeds any further. Stan and Mabel are NOT related in this AU. The story will not work if they did. I wanted to address this right now so there won't be confusion later on. I already have the next two chapters mostly done so I will be updating it this at least once a week. **


	2. Alone

**Chapter 2 – Alone**

**A/N: Hey everyone, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Kid? Hey, kid!" Stan called out as he walked through the dark alley. "It's okay, you can come out. I'm not gonna hurt ya!"

He waited quietly for an answer or any kind of response, but the little girl was nowhere to be seen. He was alone in the alley with nothing but the sound of the raindrops falling around him.

"Okay, I'm dreaming. I _have_ to be dreaming," Stan told himself. There was no way any of this was really happening. He was probably back home sleeping and this was all just a crazy fever dream. _Yeah, that's probably it!_

With that thought in mind, he pinched his cheek hard to wake himself up and winced in pain, but everything remained exactly the same.

Stan groaned and buried his face into his hands. What was he supposed to do now? How was he was going to undo…whatever happened to him?

What if he never found the girl and stayed like this forever?

The old man shook his head frantically and slapped both of his cheeks. _Snap out of it!_

Thinking like that won't do him any good at a time like this and it certainly won't help him find the girl. It never did. He looked up at the path ahead and decided to keep walking. He kept glancing back every now and then in case the creature had followed him.

Soon enough, he made it out of the alley. Not knowing where to go, he took a random direction and began walking down the sidewalk. Stan found himself shivering from the cold. This probably won't help with his sickness one bit.

Groaning, he stopped under a dead streetlight, eyes searching the area when he a new noise reached his ears, breaking the spell of the constant downpour. A soft chiming sound, almost like bells rang in his ears. He looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. Meanwhile, the dead streetlight above him began flickering to life.

Stan turned around and suddenly spotted several glowing yellow orbs dancing in his vision and before he can react, light exploded in his mind and all sounds were gone.

_The ground was shaking again. He already knew what was coming. Fear shot through his veins as he ran through the tall buildings, trying his hardest to find a way to get to higher ground. _

_Somehow, through his blind panic, he saw a ladder leading to the upper floor of the building and rushed to it without a thought. He jumped up and pulled it down. The rain made the bars wet and hard to grasp, but he managed to climb up despite that. _

_Just as he was several feet above the ground, the tremor reached its peak and water flooded the street. He saw mailboxes, garbage bins and so much more being carried away by the violent current. _

_He sighed shakily in relief and continued climbing up until he made it to the roof where he got a better look at everything. These flash floods were happening more often than before around here. He needed to find somewhere safer to stay in. He suddenly felt a chill and looked over to see several figures standing on the other building, glaring at him. _

_He glared back and turned away. _

Stan gasped and fell to his knee, pressing a hand to his face and panting. What….what was that?! He felt almost as if he was actually there, but he knew none of that actually happened. _Am I going nuts?_

He stood up and continued his trek down the street, trying push the experience at the back of his mind. He eventually stopped when heard something akin to footsteps behind him and turned around to see a hazy shape in the distance, but he couldn't make it out in the rain. For a moment, Stan hoped it was the girl and almost started waving for her to come over, but that thought was crushed instantly. Stan's breathing hitched when he realized it was walking on all fours.

It finally stopped not far from the old man and stared at him. Its appearances seemed to resemble a dog. Like him, its form was transparent in the rain and it had a skeletal body structure like the creature in the alley. It was tall enough to reach his waist and was eyeing him rather intensely.

_Yup, I'm going nuts._ Stan cracked a nervous smile at the creature. "Hey…uh…nice dog?" He said. The beast bared its teeth in return and lunged at Stan who yelped and quickly jumped back before it dug its claws into him.

"S-stay back!" He stammered.

The beast growled and pounced again. Gritting his teeth, Stan clutched his fist and punched it in the jaw as hard as he could, but he immediately regretted that as a hot numbing pain shot through his hand.

As the beast fell on the ground stunned while Stan gasped and clutched his hand, not understanding what happened. He couldn't really see if his hand was injured or bruised since it was see-through, but the throbbing pain in his knuckles was hard to ignore.

It wasn't long until the beast got up and shook its head, glaring at Stan again. It then let out a loud screech into the air and Stan watched in terror as another beast came to join it, both baring their teeth at him threateningly.

_Forget it!_ Without a second thought, Stan turned around and sprinted down the sidewalk as fast as he could. The dogs immediately gave chase.

"Help!" Stan cried out, hoping someone, _anyone _would see him and do something, but the street was empty and Stan didn't see any people nearby.

_Just my luck!_ Stan thought bitterly as he tried to run faster, but he knew his old legs can't do more than this, knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the dogs. _What do I do? Where do I go?! _

Out of desperation, he took a left turn where long lines of houses were and climbed a wooden fence, landing on the other side with a grunt just as he felt the fangs of the beast reaching for his leg.

Stan grimace when he heard the dogs digging their claws into the wood and was about to scramble away again, but then the scratching came to a halt. Stan listened silently as the sound of their footsteps got further and further until he could no longer hear them.

Stan sighed. That was close. He shakily sat up and looked around to get an idea on where he ended up. It took him a moment to recognize the place.

It was Soos' backyard.

A huge relieved grin split Stan's face. His trusted handyman will help him out. He had to. Sure, he will probably freak out at Stan's ghostly appearances, but it will _all_ be settled once he explained everything.

At the very least he will offer him a place to stay for the night.

Stan made his way around the house and into the porch, water dripping from his clothes. He wasted no time knocking on the door and waited anxiously for someone to answer. Hopefully, it will be Soos and not his grandma.

Stan frowned after waiting for a while and knocked again, but no reply came and the old man's frustration grew. Growling, he slammed his fist against the door and yelled. "Soos? Soos, open the door. It's me, Stan!"

Nothing. No sound came from within the house and the lights inside stayed off. Stan huffed and was about to continue his aggressive knocking when he realized something. He slowly turned and gazed around.

All the lights in every house around him were off.

Stan swallowed back his uneasiness. Something was wrong. It wasn't THAT late and even then there had to be at least a few houses lit right now. There were even cars left in the middle of the road without drivers.

What's going on?

Stan gulped as he sat down in the porch. The memory of a short movie he saw a few years ago came to his mind. A tale of an abandoned town….of a forest with claw marks on its trees, of a deep, dark pit in the middle of it.

He shuddered. Images of being attacked by those dogs again filled his mind, followed by thoughts of what _else_ could be out there right now.

This was stupid. He literally left his house just to get groceries. How did his night turn out like this?!

Scratching his head tiredly, Stan sighed. He knew he shouldn't let this get to him right now. He had been in many dangerous situations in the past, back when he was living on the streets and had nowhere to go.

Except back then he _at least_ had an idea on what he got himself into.

Stan wished his brother was here. He was the brainiac out of the two of them and already into this kind of weird nonsense. He would have known what to do.

Stan had to find that kid. She had all the answers. Taking a deep breath and knowing that he will probably regret this, Stan stood up and stepped into the rain again.

So much for staying dry.

Walking away from the house, Stan gulped and headed out.

**XXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Girl

**Chapter 3 – The Girl**

**A/N: Hey, everyone. Sorry for my absence, but I had to stay away from for a while to take care of some personal things. This story is less than ten chapters long and I wish to finish it. **

**Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Walking down the sidewalk, Stan kept his eyes wide for any sign of the kid. There were so many places she could be hiding in the town, so he had no idea where to start. He stopped all of a sudden as his glasses became far too wet for him to see again. He hadn't even gotten that far from Soos' house!

Annoyed, he took them off and tried whipping them on his sleeve, but to no avail. He growled and folded them, putting them away in the hem of his suit. It wasn't the safest place, he knew that, but at this rate he was better off running around the place without them!

Just then, he stopped at the sight of a tall figure wandering the street. It was the Unknown again.

It didn't seem to notice him yet and Stan scrambled back, nearly tripping over in his rush to hide behind a mailbox. _Just have to wait until it's gone._ He thought nervously, peeking from behind his hiding spot.

The Unknown was looking around the neighborhood, probably searching for him and the girl. Suddenly, for some reason, it raised its hand and pointed a finger forward, moving it around in different directions. Stan could only assume it was trying to guess which way to go next.

_Seriously?_ Stan thought, trying to hold back his laughter at how ridiculous that looked.

And that's when the Unknown slowly turned, pointing directly at him.

_WHAT!? How?_ Stan thought, panicking. The monster growled and charged toward him. He barely had the time to move back as it raised its club and smashed the mailbox as if it was nothing, much to his disbelief.

One hit. Stan gulped. One hit from that thing and he was done for. Struggling to stand up, he sprinted as fast as he could, hearing the cries of the Unknown as it chased him down the street. He screwed his eyes shut and tried to outrun his pursuer.

Just as he took a turn to the right, he saw a store with a stripy roof up ahead. The memory of his first encounter with the monster flashed in his mind and having no other idea where to go, he rushed to the store and stood under its roof. The rain couldn't reach him there.

Stan's heart was hammering in his chest as the monster marched over to him, to the point where he feared the thing could hear it. His breathing grew shallow as it looked around searchingly for him, its phantom gaze making the hairs on his body stand on end.

Finally, the Unknown gave up and walked away. Stan would have melted into the ground in relief if it had been possible. He carefully stepped out from under his cover and stared at his see-through hands in wonder.

Okay, so as long as he stayed away from the rain, he will be safe. The monsters can't hurt him if they can't see him.

Nodding to himself, the old man continued walking through the town until he made it to the center of it where the park was. He walked on by the long fence until a soft noise reached his ears. _That…that's crying. _

Following the sound, he saw the girl beyond the fence sitting on a bench, crying into her sleeve.

"Hey!" he called out. Startled, the girl looked at him and gasped. She looked ready to flee again.

"N-no, wait! It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you!" he stammered. "Listen, I need your help. I…I don't know what to do!"

The girl looked hesitant, but didn't try to run away from him which he took as a good sign. Stan should have known it wasn't going to be that easy.

One of the dogs from earlier showed up again on the other side with the girl. Frightened, the kid ran away with the creature chasing after her.

"No!" Stan hurriedly climbed the fence, landing on the side with a pained grunt.

"Ugh, my back," he winced as he rubbed his sore back and pushed himself up. He tried going in the same direction they went, but he saw lost sight of them again. Stan growled under his breath. _I was so close. She was right there!_

Sighing, he looked around the park. She could be anywhere for all he knew. He decided to try nevertheless. "Kid?" he muttered quietly. He knew he was probably putting himself in danger by doing this, but if the girl was near he needed to know. "Kid, you there? It's fine, you don't have to hide from me,"

When got no response, he stepped further into the clearing and was about to call again when his feet sunk into the ground.

Mud.

"Wonderful," Stan grumbled and stepped out of the mud pool, shaking his shoes. Just then, the ground began shaking and Stan turned to face the source of the tremors. A massive form stepped into Stan's view, causing him to fall backwards in fright.

It was walking on all fours. Its size and long neck almost reminded Stan of those dinosaur skeletons in the museum.

_I'm done for._ He thought, completely sure and terrified out of his mind, but to his surprise, the thing didn't attack him. It simply stared at him for a brief moment before turning away. Stan blinked and sat up, watching the huge figure walk away, letting out a low moan.

What was that? Why didn't it attack him like everything he else he encountered so far? Despite his better judgment, Stan began trailing after it. The creature didn't respond to his presence. Its stride was slow and heavy, but still sent ripples through the wet path.

Stan's attention was brought ahead where the two dogs were sniffing around. The park exit was beyond them and probably where the girl had went. Stan winced when he realized he will have to go through them. He looked around for a safe route then noticed that the large creature's body was blocking the rain.

_That's it! _He carefully slipped underneath it and made sure to stay in its shadow. Despite the danger of being spotted out of the way, he still felt uneasy. There was a strange tingling feeling surrounding him as he walked between its legs, like ice against bare skin. Whatever these beings were made of, his body did not respond well to it.

Eventually, the two of them passed the dogs and reached the gate. Stan was relieved to step out of the beast's shadow and turned to it. "I still have no idea what you are, but you're not that bad. I like ya," he said, giving it a thumbs-up. The creature stared at him silently and released another deep moan before walking past him and disappearing into the foggy line of the falling rain.

Stan shrugged. At least it was nice to not get chased for a change. He began heading back into the buildings, searching for a clue. After minutes of aimless walking and thinking he lost her trail, he heard a cry for help. Mind racing, he rushed through the buildings until the construction site of a building came into view. He slipped inside and found them.

The girl was backing away into a corner while the Unknown towering over her. _No!_ Stan grabbed a nearby crowbar and charged at it from behind, striking its back hard. The monster fell over on its knees, giving Stan enough time grab the kid and run away with her. He knew the thing will be back on its feet in no time.

"Go there!" she suddenly exclaimed, pointing to an alleyway he just passed by. He turned around and went in there. They waited in silence for a while until they heaved a sigh of relief when the monster didn't show up.

Stan turned to the girl. She was actually a lot younger than he previously thought. Not wanting to take any more chances, he wasted no time bombarding her with questions immediately. "Who are you? What's going on? What are those things chasing us and how do I get out of here?!"

She stood there, watching him panting over her. Her shoulders then sagged and she shook her head. "I don't know. I'm sorry,"

What?

Stan gaped. "What do you mean you don't know?!"

"I mean that I really don't know what's going on!" she huffed back.

Stan was about to retort when it finally sunk in. She really had no idea what happened to them.

All this time….all this time he had believed that she had the answers that would somehow help him undo whatever was going on, but she was just as lost and confused as he was.

"I can't believe it," Stan pressed his back against the wall and sank to the ground. So what now? Was there no way out of this place? He thought about the shack, Soos and Wendy. He could imagine them arriving for work tomorrow only to find the place empty and their boss had disappeared.

Maybe there was no getting out of this. Stan's luck had finally run out.

"Hey, cheer up, sir," The girl said, coming into his field of vision. "We may be lost right now, but we can still figure out what's going on in this crazy place!"

He groaned and looked away from her, beyond tired at this point. To his surprise and slight annoyance, she tilted her head so he would look at her again. She placed her hands against presumably her mouth and stayed like that for a long minute.

"What are you doing?" he asked eventually.

"I'm trying to show you that I'm smiling at you, since I know you can't see it," she said it as if it's a completely natural response. Stan stared at this weird kid for a moment and then pressed a hand against his face, hating that his lips were quirking upwards in amusement.

"Do you just carry packs of sunshine in your pocket?" he asked.

"I also have stickers! They are kind of soggy though," she replied without missing a beat.

"Shame," he sat up and began walking away, his earlier feelings of despair at the back of his mind now. "Let's go,"

"I'm Mabel, by the way," she said as she trailed after him. "What about you?"

"Stan," he grunted. "So, kid. You said you have stickers, right? Which one would you give me if I asked right now?" he asked, just to have something to talk about for the time being.

The girl, Mabel, began rubbing her chin, thinking really deeply about it. She shrugged. "Well, I have no idea what you look like _face-wise_, but from the way you sound I think I will give a grumpy cat sticker,"

"Man, now I wish I could have it," he grumbled, playing along. "It sounds like a good one," She laughed.

Stan was back to square one. He was heading into the stormy night again with even less leads than he had before, but the small presence next to him somehow made it seem a little less daunting.

"Where are we going anyway, Stan?" she asked after a while.

"Well, we are in need of a place to stay in for the night," He grinned and pointed ahead. "as in there,"

A small candy store stood at the end of the street.

"But that's closed," she noted and then it hit her. "Wait, you're not-"

Stan walked past her up to the door, whistling gleefully to himself. He grabbed the knob and turned to her, still grinning. "Yes. Yes, I am,"

**XXXXXXXX**

**A/N: Gah, I missed writing for these characters. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **


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